Traction device for wheels.



P. W. GRISINGHEB TRACTION DEVICE FOR WHEELS.

APPLIGATlOH FILED MAR. m, 1913.

1, 1 14,983. Patented Oct. 27, 1914..

ch cana s- .To all whom it may concern I UNITED STATES PATENT orricn.

FRANK w. cnrsmcnnn, or GUADALUPE, cemroimm.

rnaorron DEVICE FOR WHEELS.

Specification or Letters Patent. Patented 0013.27, 1914,

' Application filed March 18, 1913. Serial No. 755,179.

Be it known that I,JFRANK -W. GRISIN GHER, citizen of the United States, residing at Guadalupe, in theconnty of Santa Barbara and State of California, have invented certain newj and useful-Improvements .in Traction; Devices for Wheels, of which the following is'a specification.

My inventioii' r elates to 'new and useful improvements in -separ'able traction devices for wheels and more-,particularly-for the; drive Wheels of self propelled vehicles and the object of my invention is to provide a chain adapted to be fitted about the the or tread of the wheel in the manner in which non-skid chains are usually employed and provided with a plurality of peripherallyspaced apart tractor ibars- A further object ofmy' invention is to so construct and arrange these tractor bars as to render them particularly effective in passing through sandy or extremely muddy soil, while at the same time they will not in any way interfere with the running of the .1 each other, irrespective of the strains to.

vehicle over a good roadiand will not be detrimental to the tires when the vehicle is upon a good road.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for maintaining the tractor bars in proper parallel spaced relation to which they are subjected. And a still further-object of my invention is to. so arrange the entire device'that it may be readily removed from-the wheel and packed in comparatively, small space when not in use.

. With} these and other objects in view, my invention will be more fully described, illus4 trated in the accompanying .drawingrand then specifically" pointed out in the claims which are attached to and form .apa-rtbf In the a gsr i 'iji saiaieen out-away to form arcuate faces or surfaces '25 for smooth engagement against theouter this applioationhl taityjelevational view of afconventional form of automobile .wheel "of the pneumatic tire; type,ishowing,my improved tractor device in use; Fig. 2 a fragmentary top plan 3 view' of the device removed from the wheel;

"Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 5o.

of-Fi-g. 2, parts being broken away to more clearly show the construction.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and'indi cated'in all the views of'the drawingby the same referencecharact'ers- In order to insure a clear and complete base.

" understanding of the constr uction and operation of my device I have illustrated the same as applied to a'conventional form of auto-mobile wheel, indicated as-a whole by the numeral 10 and having'a pneumatic tire of any preferred type 11.

In its simplest form the device consists primarily of a non-skid chain structure, .indicated as a whole by the numeral l-Z and including spaced-side chains13 and 14 con- "nected'at intervals by parallel spaced apart transverse chains 15, the side. chains being iprovided each at one end with aQhoek-or other device 16 by means ofjwhich-the ends of each chainmay be connected together to bind the chains 15*across the outer face of the tire as clearly shown in the drawing and as is customary, with non-skid'chain de-. vices. Attached to each of the connecting chains 15, is a tractor'bar, indicated as a whole by the numeral 17 andthe' end-pertions of these bars are held in proper spaced relationto each other when in'=.use, by additional chains 18 and 19, one end of each which is provided with a hook or other fastening device 20 corresponding to the fastening device 16 of the chains 13 and 14a More specifically each ofthe tractor :bars 17 includes a rectangular shaped plate 21 of metal, preferably steel. and of sufiicient;

thickness to withstand the strains to which it will be subjected and body portions or innerfaces ofthe plates 21" and said blocks are preferably trapezoidal in cross section with their non parallel. faces .inclined .to-

-'ward each other at equal angles from the outer or wider base to the inner'ornarrower face-of the tire or tread upon, whichtlie device is to he em loyed and said faces 525 are in turn groove as shownat 26 to receive the connecting chains 15 to which the bars as a whole are connected by rivets or bolts 27, the inner ends or heads of which are en- Iarged and flattened as shown at 28 to-prevent injury-to the tire. Because of this -construction, the tire is subject to even less wear with this form of traction device than with the ordinarv non-skid chain as Hm The inner end portionslzofthe blocks are Iop 10 bolts 24 employed in connecting the blocks in the plates. Theseblocks arepreferably formed of wood in order to render the entire device as light'as possible although-ifpreferred they may be formed of metal or l5- any other material found suited for the purpose. Any number of tractor bars may be employed and said bars may be spaced apart any desired distance. It -will how-. ever, be found that as a general rule there need not be as many tractor bars as thereusually are cross chains in a non-skid device of the chain grip type.

In operation, the device is applied to the wheel of the vehicle in the same manner in which the ordinary chain device is employed, the auxiliary chains 18 and 19 being connected at their endsiby the hooks 20 in the same manner in which the chains 13 and let are fastened; It' will be apparent that these chains 18 and 19 not only serve, because of the rivets or bolts 24;, to keep the bars in proper spaced apart parallel position, but also serve to maintain all of the bars in positions parallel to the axle and consequently in such position as to engage flatly against the ground.

Although this device may be employed upon good reads it is not recommended for that purpose as it does not possess any 40 marked advantages as a non-skid device and is intended solely for use when traveling over roads which are ordinarily-difficult or almost impassable, due to sand or deep mud. In such roads the ordinary non-skid chain devices merely cut away the sand or.

mud and in effect cause the wheels to bite in deeper than they ordinarily would and if anything are hm-(fill in their action rather than beneficial. \Viththe above described device. the result is entirely different for the tractor bars not only in rease the bearing surface of the wheel and thus support it and prevent itsinkiug into the sand or mud to a certain extent, but also furnish 'an enlarged body which must be forced through the sand or 'mud if the wheel is to slip. The driving action is therefore freatly increased.

4 If the device is to e employed where the 50 sand is extremely heavy, as at beaches or the like, the supporting power of the wheel may begrcatly increased by strips of relativcly heavy canvas 30 secured to the inner faces of the end blocks 22 and 23, one upon either side of the wheel.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that I have rovided an extremely eificient form of tractlon device for use with self-propelled vehicles. 'It will, however, be understood that I do not wish to limit, myself to the specific details of construction illustrated in the drawing and described in the specification as various changes, within the'scope of the appended claims, may be made at any time, without in the slightest degree departing from the spirit of my invention. 'In other wrds, it Will be understood that the tractor' bars may be made in various sizes, lengths and cross sections, dependent upon the weight which they must support and'the kind of roads overv which the vehicle ,is to be driven. As few as possible of these bars will be employed in orderthat the device "may take up as little roomj as possible in the vehicle when not 'in useand if'emplo'yed on the: front wheels ,tliebarsi will be lighter and nar- .rower than-upon therear wheels. I preferto make' these bars of wood because ofthe factthat they willrbe much lighter than if made of. metal but "I'do not wish to limit myself to the use of wood. In order to insure suflicient 'strength, the strips of canvas may each consist of several thicknesses of canvas fastened together or each strip of canvas may be folded several times to obtain the same result. As all of these'minor changes are dependent upon theweightof the vehicle andthe character of-the'roads over which it is to passlno exact rules can be laid down'governing the same.

Having thus described the invention,

what is claimed as new is:

1. A device of the character described including a'tire chain having side chains and cross chains connecting the .side chains, and tractorbars each secured to one of the cross chains, each tractor bar including a plate; and blocks secured to the ends of the plateand having their inner ends cut-away'to engage abo'utthe' cross chains and to bear flatly against the tire, said blocks being secured to the inner face of the plate.

2. A device of the character described including .a tire chain having side chains and cross chains connecting the side chains,

tractor bars each secured to one of the cross chains, each tractor "bar: including a plate, and blocks secured to the ends of the plate and having their i'nner ends cut-away to .engage aboutnthel cross chains and to bear flatly against the. tire, said blocks being secured to the inner face of.the plate, the I outer faces of the blocks adjacent their outer ends being grooved, and peripherally extending chains passed through the groove of. the'corresponding end blocks of the h: and held in place between said blocks and the plates by suitable fasteners 3, In a device of the character described,

a tire chain including side chains and spaced cross chains, tractor bars secured to the cross chains, a strip of canvas secured to the end portions of the tractor bars upon one side of the cross chains and a strip of canvas secured to the ends of the tractor bars upon the other side of the cross chains.

4-. A device of the character described including a tire chain having side chains and crosschains connecting the side chains and tractor bars secured each to one of the cross chains, each tractor bar including a plate and blocks secured to the ends of the plate and having their inner ends cut-away to en gage about the cross chains and to bear flatly against the tire, said blocks being securedto the inner faces of the plates, peripherally extending) chains connecting the corresponding end lochs'of the bars and holding the tractor bars against swinging movement, and peripherally extending strips of canvas secured to the inner faces the cross chains and extending at their ends beyond the sides of the tire, and

chains connecting corresponding ends of the tractor bars.

Intestimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

FRANK W. GRISINGHER. [n 8-] Witnesses P. GIACOMINI, W. TOGNAZZINI.

Gopiesot this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the commlssioner'of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

